Finn Wittrock, who was to star opposite Elizabeth Olsen in the production, has withdrawn due to a film commitment.

NEW YORK -- William Hurt, T.R. Knight and Daphne Rubin-Vega have joined the cast of Classic Stage Company's Romeo and Juliet.

But Elizabeth Olsen, set to star as one of the tragic lovers in the upcoming off-Broadway production, will keep pining for her Romeo a while longer.

Finn Wittrock, the fast-rising stage actor who had been cast opposite Olsen in the male title role, has dropped out to do Ryan Murphy's film version for HBO of the landmark AIDS drama The Normal Heart. A new Romeo is expected to be announced shortly.

Directed by Tea Alagic, the limited-engagement production begins preview performances Sept. 27 at CSC's East Village home, with an official opening set for Oct. 16.

It goes up against another New York staging of Romeo and Juliet, that one starring Orlando Bloom and Condola Rashad, beginning preview performances at Broadway's Richard Rodgers Theatre on Aug. 24.

Oscar winner Hurt will play Friar Laurence in the CSC production. A New York theater veteran, he was nominated for a Tony Award in 1984 for David Rabe's Hurlyburly.

Knight, who was last onstage in New York opposite Patrick Stewart in David Mamet's A Life in the Theatre, will play Mercutio.

Rubin-Vega takes on the role of Juliet's trusted Nurse. Chief among her many stage credits is her Tony-nominated turn in the original production of Rent.